Garibaldi Brigade

The XII International "Garibaldi" Brigade was one of the International Brigades that fought for the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War. The brigade was commanded by Soviet adviser Mate Zalka from 7 November 1936 until he was killed during the Huesca Offensive on 11 June 1937, and Gustav Regler served as its political commissar. The brigade would fight at Madrid, Guadalajara, and Brunete, and it was dissolved in 1939 when the war ended. It had 7 brigades, three of them being Spanish; there was a battalion of Albanian and Italian volunteers, one of French and Belgian volunteers, one of Polish exiles, and one of German and Austrian volunteers.